Business and Economy
Binance Ceases Naira Transactions in Nigeria Amid Regulatory Pressure
By Iyojo Ameh
In response to mounting regulatory challenges from Nigerian authorities, major global cryptocurrency exchange Binance has announced the termination of all services involving Nigeria’s fiat currency, the Naira.
Effective March 5, Binance revealed its decision to discontinue NGN withdrawals after March 8. Additionally, any remaining NGN balances in users’ Binance accounts after this date will be automatically converted to Tether.
The exchange has urged users to withdraw NGN, trade their NGN assets, or convert NGN into cryptocurrency before the cessation of NGN services.
Furthermore, all trading pairs involving NGN will be removed from Binance on March 7, and the platform’s payment service, Binance Pay, will eliminate NGN from its list of supported payment options on March 6.
Binance’s decision to halt Naira transactions comes after its peer-to-peer platform delisted all NGN trading pairs in late February.
President Bola Tinubu’s administration has accused Binance of economic sabotage, alleging that the cryptocurrency exchange is arbitrarily fixing the foreign exchange rate.
Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Information & Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, voiced concerns during an interview on Channels Television, stating that Binance’s activities could harm Nigeria’s economy if left unchecked.
The tension between the Nigerian government and the crypto market escalated last week when two top Binance executives were arrested by security operatives in Nigeria.
Their detention underscores the growing tensions surrounding cryptocurrency trading platforms and the government’s efforts to regulate them.
Central Bank of Nigeria Governor, Olayemi Cardoso, raised concerns about Binance during a recent press conference, highlighting the illicit financial flows through crypto platforms.
According to Cardoso, approximately $26 billion has been transacted through Binance Nigeria in the past year, prompting scrutiny over the sources and users involved in these transactions.
